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Published: March 24th 2008
Beautiful Scenery
rafting gives you the opportunity to see remote scenery you wouldn't see otherwise. But even out here, there is civilisation. Can you see the huge bridge hanging across the river?Why oh why did I choose to visit Nepal at the coldest time of year? Was it an unconscious effort to start acclimatising, ready for my return to chilly England? Or did my English genes simply need a dose of bone-chilling, nipple-freezing cold? Whatever the reason, once again I was cursing the weather and wearing thermals, fleece and hat. My hopes of going home tanned were now dashed. But I don’t regret this choice really, because Nepal has been fantastic.
My next adventure was a rafting expedition towards the Indian border. Our group had two main rafts, which each held eight people. Our luggage was sealed in enormous “dry-bags” and strapped securely in the centre of the rafts. There was also a support raft, which was laden with gas bottles, stoves and tents.
We were told that the river was not technical or rough at this time of year - the water levels were too low. But on the first rapid, the boat in front of us tipped over! One minute it was battling the white water, and then it was suddenly upside down.Some people were trapped in the air pocket underneath the boat and had to swim out.
Fully Loaded
the raft is overflowing with our supplies Others were being swept down the rapids, bouncing off rocks. They were carried along at a heck of a rate, because the thing is with rapids it that they are, well, rapid. Our boat made it through successfully, and we passed poor Jaime who was desperately clinging to a rock in the middle of the river. I was secretly disappointed that our boat didn’t capsize. It would have added to the fun!
The rest of the days rafting was uneventful, although we passed through some spectacular and remote scenery.
In the evening we camped on a sandy bank by the river. There was plenty of wood nearby, and so we soon had a roaring campfire going. Out of nowhere, a local man appeared and offered to sell us beer and rum. What a result! It turns out there was a tiny village nearby. Nothing like a spot of Nepalese rum on a cold night to warm the cockles.
Two of the Aussies, Ewan and Shayne, showed me some photos on their camera of an Indian wedding they had been to in Mumbai. The photos also featured “Dougal”, who is a twelve-inch high “Kermit the Frog”. He travels
Light My Fire
We spent a lovely evening round the campfire with some Nepalese Rum. the world with them, and they take photos of him at famous landmarks. Many people have toys which they travel with and take photos of. But Dougal takes things to another level. In India they had a tuxedo made for him, and so there were photos of him wearing black tie, including a cumberbund! For the actual wedding he had an Indian suit made, and was wearing a miniature turban. When they go skiing, Dougal goes too. He has a mini pair of skis which are fully functional and allow him to fly down the slopes. In fact, he has so many outfits that I asked jokingly if he has his own suitcase. It turns out he does! A mini one.
There were no further capsizes on the second day, so at the final rapids we all jumped overboard. This was, without a doubt, the coldest water I have ever plunged into. It was almost heart-stopping. This was water from melted glaciers, in the middle of the Nepalese winter. It was so cold that your body was too shocked to even shiver. At first it felt like thousands of tiny needles pricking you all over. Then it felt almost
Bloody Freezing!
Shivering and shaking, but what a buzz! as if you were being burnt by a scalding heat. A very curious sensation. I swam to shore pretty damn quickly, I can tell you!
Our next stop was the Royal Chitwan National Park, home of the Bengal Tiger. It was designated as a wildlife reserve in the 19th century, which only meant that that the locals were not allowed to kill the animals. The royalty and foreign aristocrats were still allowed to hunt them down and kill them! (The animals that is, not the locals). In 1911, King George V and his son had a jolly day out in the park, and managed to slaughter 39 tigers and 18 rhinos that same day. By the 1960s, there were estimated to be only 100 rhino and 20 tigers left. Luckily for these fearsome beasties, the park became a proper wildlife reserve, and all the animals are now protected properly.
Apart from tigers and rhinos, the park is also home to the rare Gangetic Dolphin. There are estimated to be only 20 of these left. What I want to know is, how the heck did dolphins end up in Nepal? These are usually seafaring creatures, so they must have
Waterfight!
As if we weren't wet enough already... taken a serious wrong turn somewhere. This wouldn’t have happened if they had Sat-Nav.
The main draw of the park is the chance to see a Bengal Tiger, of which there are estimated to be eighty left. We did an early morning walk to try and spot these elusive beasts. We were warned that the walk was potentially dangerous, and that a jeep safari was available as an alternative. But engine noise can scare animals away, and besides, there’s nothing like a bit of danger early in the morning to wake you up. A thirty minute boat ride down the river took us into the heart of the park, and we set off into the undergrowth with our guides. I was surprised that our two guides were only carrying wooden poles to defend us. I had been expecting rifles with tranquiliser darts. Hence the warning of danger I guess. If we encountered any animals, the guides would tell us how to react. This may involve staying still, climbing a tree to a height of six metres, or simply running for your life. If running from a charging rhino, there are two tricks you can use. Firstly, shed your clothes
eye eye
gazing into the eyes of an elephant as you run. A rhino’s sense of smell is better than it’s eyesight, and a thrown garment of clothing would slow it down long enough for you to make your escape. (Although in my case, it might not work We had been warned not to wear deodorant today, but I had forgotten, and had given myself a liberal spraying an hour previously). The second strategy with a rhino is to run in a zig-zag pattern, because rhinos find it hard to change direction whilst charging. However, neither of these strategies will work with a Bengal Tiger. You just have to hope that someone in the group is a slower runner than you. In practice this will usually be the guides, who stay behind to beat the tiger off with their sticks while you make your escape. In recent years there have been a few tiger attacks on walking groups, and the guides have occasionally been mauled.
And so we set off into the undergrowth. We were walking single file, very slowly and very quietly. I was painfully aware of every twig that broke under my feet, and the loud noise it made. We carried on through the bushes and
Misty Morning River
our headless boatman paddled us down the spooky river scrubland, pausing every so often when the guides thought they heard something. The suspense was incredible, knowing that a tiger could jump out at any time. But after a while we got complacent, and thought the chances of seeing a tiger was very slim. So we started walking more boldy, not making an effort to keep quiet. And that is when it happened. We heard a huge ROAR from behind us, and an enormous tiger leaped out of the bushes in a blur of fur and stripes. With one mighty swing of it’s claws, it disembowelled one of the guides, who collapsed to the floor in a bloody heap. Then it crouched close to the ground and turned to face me, growling menacingly. OK, this didn’t actually happen. This is what happened in my dreams the night before though! The reality was that we didn’t see any tigers. Or any rhinos. All we saw was a lousy crocodile
In the afternoon we did an elephant safari. Each elephant carried four passengers in a wooden frame. The “floor’ was cushioned, but the lurching motion of the elephant meant you kept banging into the frame. I was feeling rather bruised afterwards.
Elephant Identity Parade
"Yes sergeant, it was the second one who stole my peanuts" Elephants are very intelligent creatures, and they can understand up to 40 commands given by the guy who rides them. These commands are a combination of words which are spoken while the rider gently kicks a part of the ear. Our elephant was a juvenile, but it was also the fastest. It had won the Annual Elephant Race for two years running. As our speedy elephant overtook another elephant, someone said “look, their elephant is going faster than ours”. I turned back and shouted “yeah, that’s cos our elephant is carrying thin people, whereas yours is carrying a load of fatties”. I assumed the other elephant was carrying my friends that I had been travelling with. But it wasn’t. It was a group of people I hadn’t met! Whoops
There were five elephants, and we all set off through the forest in different directions in search of rhino. We spotted one, but as soon as it saw us, it took off into the jungle. We headed in pursuit, crashing through the undergrowth at a terrific speed. The other elephants heard the commotion and came thundering out of the bush, and we all converged on the rhino from different sides.
Elephant Riders!
Myself, Enzo, Jess and Emma Suddenly the rhino stopped and turned to face us. Our elephant let out a full-throated cry, threw it’s trunk in the air and briefly went on it’s rear two legs. Then it charged forwards. The rhino started running towards us too. Were we being charged by the rhino? Was the elephant about to attack the rhino? I don’t know, but the rhino suddenly veered off to one side and escaped into the bush. We tried to follow but he was too fast
Elephants are very interesting creatures. Here are a few elephant facts
1. Did you know that elephants comminicate by infrasonic sounds waves? They make low rumbles which are below the human threshold of hearing, which can travel up to several miles. The elephants can pick them up as vibrations through the spongy cushions at the bottom of their feet.
2. Elephants can live to be 70 years old, but usually they die of starvation rather than old age. An elephant’s teeth gradually wear out, and they are replaced six times in their lifetime. The new teeth push from the back, much like a conveyor belt, and gradually displace the worn molars at the front. Once
the sixth and last set of teeth have worn out, the elephant can no longer eat and starves to death. I would suggest that the elephants wear false teeth, but they would look ridiculous
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laetitiaaroundtheworld
Laetitia
Great trip!
Looks like you had quite an amazing trip and the pictures are really stunning! Was looking at going for a rafting/ trekking trip in Nepal too, so guess got lucky that your blog was on the front page! Which rafting club did you go with? thanks! Laetitia